Fast Friends . . .The story of how Flippy and Toadpole met the rest of the gang.

One day Flippy and Toadpole were walking around the swamp, and they came up on a Lilly pad. You know? A toadstool. One of those things that frogs usually sit on. But this time instead of a frog sitting on it, there was an alligator. Flippy said, "Hey look there's an ali-ma-gator." Toadpole laughed and said, “You mean an alligator...And then the alligator laughed and said: "You mean a Hali-ma-gator." Flippy and Toadpole jumped back. Halimagator laughed some more, "My name's Halimagator but you can call me Hal.” Flippy looked at Toadpole and laughed and then he said, "Hey Halimagator you want to come and play with us?” Halimagator said, "I sure do."...And ever since, they have all been fast friends.

The three of them kept walking around the swamp and Halimagator told stories that made Flippy and Toadpole laugh so much…Their sides were hurting. That Halimagator was one good storyteller.

They kept walking, and then Flippy stopped. He heard a tiny little voice cry out, "Be careful where you step!" "What was that?" said Flippy. "What was what?" said Toadpole. "Yeah, what was what?" said the tiny little voice. "Who said that?" said Halimagtor.

Toadpole started laughing and then pretty soon everybody was laughing. Flippy said, "Hey Eartha, do you want to come play with us?" Eartha said, "I sure do." And ever since, they have all been fast friends.

The four of them kept walking through the swamp and Halimagator asked if there was really such a thing as an “Eartha” worm. Eartha said, "Sure is! You’re looking at one, and I'm the Hide-and-Go-Seek Champion of the whole swamp. If anyone ever wants to challenge me...I will prove my claim."…And with that, Eartha jumped into the mud…And disappeared underneath. Everybody blinked, “Wow! That was cool! Where did Eartha go so fast?” Well, none of the others wanted to challenge Eartha, for it was plain to see that Eartha truly was the Hide-and-Go-Seek Champion of the whole swamp. Finally Flippy said, "We give up.” Eartha popped her head up and said, “Okay, lets go."…And so…They did.

The four of them were walking along having a good time, when all of a sudden they heard a SPLASH!…And they saw something flipping across the water. Eartha jumped into the mud and disappeared again. Halimagator jumped into Toadpole's arms, and Flippy jumped into Halimagator's arms. Then someone started laughing. Loud. Eartha's head poked up out of the ground and looked around to see a funny crazy crawfish sitting there, in front of them. Eartha started laughing too…When she saw Flippy, Halimagator and Toadpole, all holding on to each other like they had seen a ghost. Eartha Laughed some more, "That's just Crawdaddy. He's the fastest backwards swimmer in the whole swamp…And…He's probably the best cook…This side of the Mississippi River." Crawdaddy laughed louder, "Either side of the Mississippi River." And to prove it…Crawdaddy made up a mess of flap-jacks faster than you can say, "Pass the butter,” and “Where's the syrup?" Everybody ate and they all agreed that Crawdaddy was the best cook on either side of the Mississippi River. Ever since, the five of them have all been fast friends.

By then it was getting late so everybody decided it was time to go home, but Flippy made everyone promise that tomorrow they would all get together and play some more. Everybody said, "Okay." After all, the five of them had just become...Fast friends.